Those
who forget their mistakes are doomed to repeat them. It was the standard modern
history drivel that had been drummed into Schuldig like every other European
school-going kid for as long as he could remember. Perhaps that was why he
found his current situation so fucking amusing. He had always thought his
mistake had been his unwillingness to give his life up for that of his friend,
but it turned out it had been interpreting the actions of a certain pre-cog as
being due to concern for Schuldig. And like the most pathetic kind of idiot,
he'd fallen victim to the man again. But this time he knew it. In that moment
he'd seen the whole of Crawford's mind laid out before him.

With
that had come the discovery that his life had never been in danger due to the
escape attempt. On the contrary, the Delphic Unit had hazy images of the German
successfully making his way to Berlin, thereby proving that Yue too would have
gotten away from Rosenkreuz's clutches. But he'd stopped them all, had
effectively destroyed the one who had been his best friend and caused the death
of Asuka for nothing. For eleven years of guilt and working with a man who
didn't see him as anything other than a useful tool. The lack of any emotional
ties to the redhead in Crawford's mind shouldn't have surprised the German after
everything else he'd seen in there, but for some inexplicable reason it still
hurt.

He
hadn't even bothered to get angry with the other man, knowing that expecting
any kind of emotional response from Crawford was futile. Instead, he had
silently gathered up his things and left the apartment without another word. No
one tried to stop him; Aya and Nagi were obviously still asleep and Farfarello
was locked up as per usual. He'd made it all the way down to the docks and
smoked his way through half a packet before the reason for his easy escape
chose to make itself known.

The
echoing ring of approaching footsteps was not enough to merit turning his
attention away from the smouldering filter in his hands. The unmistakable click
of a safety being released from a gun caused him to pause for a moment, before
raising the cigarette again to his lips. "How the fuck did you find me?" he
asked, keeping his face firmly facing the sea.

There
was a sigh from behind him. "You haven't even noticed yet, have you?" Crawford
said in a tone as free from emotion as ever. "You can't hide from me as we're
still linked. The bond between a telepath and pre-cog is permanent."

Schuldig
snorted and flicked the glowing remains of his cigarette into the water. "Still
sounds like an awful lot of effort compared to GPS." There was another pause
before Schuldig pulled another cigarette free from the packet. "Planning on
shooting me, Crawford?" he asked idly. "It would certainly be one way of
preventing Void from completing the task."

"So
would simply excluding you from this assignment," Crawford responded. "Which
happens to be precisely what I have in mind."

The
German let out a humourless laugh. "That is somewhat of a lousy idea
considering we're surrounded by Weavers. Do you really think the spiders are
going to let you start spinning your own web?" Through the connection in his
mind to the American, Schuldig was able to sense as Brad looked around and
noticed the silent figures that surrounded the pair. There was a rustle of
fabric as the gun raised to the back of the German's head was lowered and then
put away.

Almost
instantly the pair were surrounded by the Delphic Unit's operatives.
"Crawford," one spoke up in a tone that made the American sound positively
overemotional. "It is the orders of Janus and the Delphic Unit that we ensure
your presence at the following address tonight. There you will be presented
with the chance to re-obtain Void and remove him from the unknown group. Should
he fail to rejoin Schwarz, the telepath Schuldig will accompany us back to
Rosenkreuz."

Throwing
his final cigarette to the ground as he rose to his feet, Schuldig smirked at
the impassive faces that surrounded him. "You make it sound so tempting, I
think my colleagues may find motivation hard to come by." Stepping around the
American without so much as a glance at the Schwarz leader, Schuldig stretched
his arms casually above his head. "Well, it appears I should home and get some
sleep before all the fun starts." Crawford made a move towards the telepath,
but Schuldig dodged it easily using his faster reflexes and continued with an
unhurried step back towards the apartment. Behind him, the Weavers began to
follow at a discreet distance, but the American remained down by the docks. Schuldig
left him there.

~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A
quiet knock at the door gave Yohji the required split second to throw his
cigarette out of the window before Ran entered the room. The redhead must have
noticed the smell of cigarette smoke, but chose not to comment on it. Instead
he fixed Yohji with a questioning stare. "Your guest just left. Any inclination
of telling me what it was about?"

Yohji
grinned without humour and shifted his position by the window, giving the other
man room to come and sit by him. "Not really."

Ran
nodded as if to himself as he made his way over to join the other man by the
window. Keeping his eyes carefully observing Yohji's face, Ran reached out and
brushed a stray blond strand behind the other man's ear. "In that case, how
much effort is it going to take to force some information out of you?"

Yohji
arched an eyebrow in surprise at the redhead. "Planning on seducing the answers
out of me, Ran?"

The
other man snorted slightly, but kept his hand gently playing with the wavy
strands of blond hair. Yohji felt his eyes begin to close at the soothing,
gentle tugging sensations the man was causing. Warm breath drifted across his
cheek as Ran leaned in close enough for the blond to feel the redhead's lips
brushing against his in an almost caress. "I always thought that was more your
style," Ran replied. "I was actually planning on sitting here with a
sympathetic ear should you feel inclined to use it."

A
wolfish grin spread across Yohji's features as he opened his eyes again to find
the other man's face practically touching his own. Bringing his own hand up to
bury itself in the soft crimson strands and pull Ran's face the final few
required millimetres, Yohji deepened the feather-light brush of lips to
something more substantial. The redhead responded with more pressure of his own
before opening his mouth to admit the blond.

Yohji's
questing tongue revealed in the unique flavour of Ran's mouth before the
redhead pulled slowly backwards and broke off the kiss. "Still don't feel like
talking?" Ran enquired as his fingers crept up to the collar of Yohji's shirt
and began to play with the buttons there, twisting them and letting them fall
from his grip. Gradually the fingers slid from the fabric to the skin
underneath and traced lazy patterns idly across Yohji's collarbone.

Looking
at Ran in suspicion, Yohji fought back the response his body was desperately
trying to achieve. "For someone not intending to seduce me, your actions could
be easily misconstrued."

Ran
smiled again. "Maybe I'm just horny."

Yohji
laughed. "Now I know you're trying to seduce me into talking. Either that or
you're the latest one to have your personality reprogrammed."

A
roll of amethyst eyes and another quiet snort answered the blond as the other
man continued to play idly with Yohji's shirt. "You just seemed troubled," Ran
said at last, his voice neutral and eyes firmly fixed on the fabric he was
twisting and sliding through his fingers. "I thought maybe if you talked about
whatever's wrong it would help. But if all you want is someone to help take
your mind off things, that's okay too."

Yohji
felt his eyebrows draw together slightly as he gently slid his hand under Ran's
chin and tilted the pale face so that he was staring directly into those
incredible violet orbs. "Aren't you forgetting something?" he asked gently.
"What about you? What do you want?"

Ran
paused. "I just want you to be happy," he said at last, breaking off his gaze
as he did so as though unsure of the response such an answer would cause.

Yohji
smiled and moved in to kiss the other man again. "For someone who acts so cool
and aloof, you really are a romantic at heart, aren't you?" A hand whacked the
back of the blond's head, but Ran seemed too involved to actually break away
and form a real answer. The blond let his hands trail slowly down from their
grip in the crimson strands to entangle amongst the soft cotton of Ran's shirt
before slowly sliding the buttons out of their fastenings. Yohji felt Ran shift
closer as his fingers began to explore the man's pale skin and concentrated on
pushing Mika's warning to the back of his mind.

~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The
strong sense of disorientation must have been responsible for the extended
amount of time it took Ran to realise that he was dreaming. Not that the bland
interior of a lift was the usual setting for his sleeping mind. On the rare
occasions he recalled his dreams, they always involved his sister or the
faceless victims of his blade. So he studied the mirrored walls with great suspicion,
unable to remember where he had seen a lift like this before. From the
reflections of the lift's highly polished sides, Ran could see he wore his
assassin gear, but even that detail failed to help him fix the location in his
normally impeccable memory.

The
lift shuddered slightly, indicating that Ran had arrived at a floor, even
though the panel above the doors remained blank. With a chime the doors slid
open to reveal darkness so thick it almost seemed tangible. A waft of cold air,
heavy with the damp smell that comes from being underground reached the
redhead's awareness and not seeing any other option, Ran stepped slowly out of
the elevator. The floor was uneven underfoot and the redhead squinted down
through the gloom in the hope of keeping his balance. While thus occupied, the
doors slid shut again leaving Ran in darkness.

Unwilling
to simply stay put in such an environment, Ran turned back to where the
elevator doors should have been and reached out a hand to locate the call
button. Instead his hand found only air. Frowning, the redhead turned to face
his original direction and, not seeing any other option, began to make his way
along the corridor.

The
ground didn't become any smoother as Ran walked further along and rather than
continue to stumble, he reached out a hand to brush against the wall for
balance. Even through the leather gloves he wore, the redhead could tell that
the wall was no smoother than the ground and out of curiosity, removed one of
his gloves to run his fingers lightly over the surface. The questing digits
encountered cold stone, damp from seeping rainwater and patches of muddy earth
that crumbled at his touch. Ran withdrew his hand with an expression of
distaste on his face before sighing quietly and replacing his hand. Putting his
glove back on now would simply ruin the leather and he had no intention of
continuing to stumble around so the wall would have to guide him.

He
had gone no more than a few steps however when a noise ahead of him drew Ran up
short. The distortion caused by the echoes of the enclosed space made the
original sound hard to discern and the redhead froze completely, not wanting to
move before he identified the possible threat. He didn't have to wait long; it
appeared to be a fairly rhythmical, if somewhat slow, beat interspersed with a
fainter noise that sounded off-key and caused his hair to stand on edge. It
only took Ran a few moments to recognise the noise as that of a badly rusted
door banging against its doorframe.

Relieved
at having found a possible exit from his current location, the redhead began to
make his way forward. His eyes appeared to finally be adjusting to the gloom
and so he was able to move slightly faster and with more confidence over the
uneven ground. The door was up ahead, a collection of broken boards indicating
that at some point in the past this particular portal had been boarded up.
Possibly due to the apparent instability of the underground tunnels, Ran mused.
The whole place looked as though any minor shower would cause major subsidence.

The
redhead reached out a hand to push the door open and peered into the darkness
on the other side. A shuffling, scraping sound alerted him to another presence
and as Ran squinted into the gloom, he was disquieted to find himself on the verge
of panic. Clamping down firmly on the emotion, Ran slowly edged into the room.
There was a figure standing in one of the corners, little more than a black
shape against the darkness and for some unknown reason, Ran felt it best to
draw as little of the stranger's attention to himself as possible. Even though
there was no movement or other indication to show any awareness on the figure's
part, Ran found himself moving as slowly as possible.

There
was a flicker of movement in the general area of the stranger's wrist as a
whispering noise filled the room. From out of the darkness snaked a multitude
of wires, their thin strands wrapping around Ran and forcing him to his knees.
Even once he'd been forced to the ground, the net around the redhead continued to
tighten, making Ran gasp for breath.

Footsteps
and an amused chuckle caused his eyes to snap upwards once again. A nightmare
from his past looked down on him. "None of you ever seem to learn," Void remarked
in much the same tone of voice as used for discussing the weather. "All of you,
so pathetic and powerless, nevertheless seek to control me. It doesn't work
that way. Only one who exists outside the webs can truly influence them.
Anything else is mere delusion."

Ran
tried to force himself to calm down and keep his expression neutral. "You don't
exist anymore. In fact, you never really did. This is all in my mind."

An
almost imperceptible movement of the wrist and the wires around Ran began to
cut through his leather coat. The redhead hissed involuntarily, but was in no
doubt that Void had heard his reaction. The blond leaned closer, a golden
stream of hair sliding smoothly over one shoulder. "This is indeed in your
mind, but even a normal mind can't block me out. I have always been here. I am
the essential part of his existence. Yue, Yohji, call him what you like, but
it's still nothing more than a shell for me. You can try to shut me away,
imprisoned behind blocks, but I'll always find a way to break free."

"You
mean you're what Schwarz tried to block from Yohji's mind?" Ran's mind tried
desperately to keep up. "But then why wasn't there any sign of you … whatever
you are?"

"Oh
I've been around, making my presence known. But I've been subtle – passive if
you will, for even I can only achieve so much without direct control."
Straightening up again, Ran's captor examined his entangled prey. "I must
confess to not wanting to kill you here. After all, you were the one who freed
me and as such I am in your debt. Besides, you're in store for something far
more interesting than any messy death I could cause here and now."

The
figure was suddenly gone as if he'd never even been there. Ran's bonds
tightened for a moment before falling to the floor, the redhead along with
them.

~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He'd
left the redhead there, sleeping peacefully. Even now a large part of the
blond's conscious mind wanted nothing more than to sneak back into the Koneko
and lie down beside the man. But Yohji couldn't do that, no matter how much he
wanted to.

"Do you really think anyone cares that you've made a life
for yourself here? That they'll honestly not decide to simply get rid of your
little boyfriend-come-bodyguard? And however good he might be, he's still
normal. Blind luck allowed him to survive against you once, how long do you
think that luck will hold? Are you willing for his death to be on your hands
when you have the chance to prevent it? Come with us now and we'll leave him
alone. The redhead has lived out his usefulness to us, and it's up to you to
ensure he doesn't become an obstacle."

Mika's words repeated
themselves endlessly in his head, the dark intent behind them seeming so at
odds with the teenager's wide-eyed and innocent expression. But he had no
reason to doubt that people capable of blowing up a hospital would see his own
feelings as anything other than superfluous.

His fingers itched for a
cigarette, but Yohji simply pushed them deeper into his coat's pockets and
concentrated on walking. This was something he
had to do. He was not going to let his friends get hurt on his account. Mika
had seemed to think that explaining his past would somehow win him over to
their side, but the teenager had been mistaken. Past loyalties aside, Yohji had
no intention of lifting a finger to help someone he didn't even remember. The
betrayal thing didn't even come into the matter. As far as he was concerned,
Yohji had no more loyalty to the past, his only hope lay in his future. And
that was why he refused to see Ran get hurt on his account. He'd find a way to
sort this mess out and then return to the redhead when it was safe. Hopelessly
naïve and optimistic perhaps, but that was the way things were going to be and
damn anyone who wasn't willing to go along with his plans.

Yohji broke away from that
train of thought with an almost physical wrench, shaking his head quickly as if
that would help send his thoughts on another direction. It was something that
he was beginning to be worried by; this constant assurance that things would
work out just the way he chose – forced or not. It went beyond simple cockiness
into something darker and somewhat unnerving. He wondered if this was some
aspect of one of his prior identities resurfacing, but hurriedly changed his
thoughts again. Thinking that kind of thing was only going to encourage these
unsettling feelings. Plus he'd decided that whoever he'd been previously had
obviously been given a fair shot at things and messed up. Chance over: make
room for the new kid.

This wasn't exactly shifting
his mental train of thought, Yohji reflected wryly and he removed one hand from
his pocket to run through his hair, brushing it back from his eyes for all of a
few moments before the honey strands fell forwards again. Why was it whenever
you specifically tried not to think of something, your thoughts wouldn't remain
on anything else? The blond pulled a wry face to himself and replaced his hand
in the overlarge pockets. Through the material of the lining, Yohji's wrist
lightly brushed against the edge of the bulge in the small of his back where
he'd placed Ken's gun. He'd thought the weapon would help reassure him on some
level, give him some semblance of power in this situation, but the cold metal
refused to warm to his body's temperature and caused his stomach to contract
whenever he let himself dwell on its presence.

Some half-hidden instinct
made the blond slow his steps and he raised his gaze to study the featureless
warehouses around him. He had no real recollection of the industrial area, and found
the lack of distinctive landmarks confusing. But that was probably why he'd
been told to come here, Yohji thought sourly. The last thing an insane assassin
group is going to do is hide somewhere in plain sight. Good guys hid in flower
shops and let the psychos worry about central heating and running water. Even
so, he was still able to instantly spot the figure that stood in wait for him.
"Has anyone ever mentioned that such colourful hair might hinder your
effectiveness as an assassin?"

Mika pulled a face as she
left her slouched position by one of the warehouses. "Considering you were
supposed to see me, the whole question is rather obsolete at the moment, isn't
it?" Pausing as she stopped in front of the taller man, Mika chewed on her lower
lip for a moment, her forehead lightly creased. "I didn't think you were going
to come," she admitted.

Yohji's eyes narrowed.
"You made it very clear what would happen to Ran if I didn't. Don't even think
about pretending I'm here for any other reasons than keeping him safe. I
couldn't care less what happens to people I don't remember, even if they didn't
betray me."

Something flickered
through the teenager's eyes as she stepped away from Yohji, regarding him in a
completely different manner from before. "The other's are waiting for us. We
don't have much time."

Yohji raised an eyebrow,
inwardly thanking Ran for having been such a hostile bastard at first. Even
though the redhead had certainly thawed out, his legacy of chilling glares and
cutting remarks were proving invaluable. "And what is it that we're in danger
of missing? My welcoming party?"

Instead of responding with
the expected sulk, Mika's expression suddenly seemed to be sorrowful, before
she forced her features back into a more neutral arrangement. Yohji felt a
sudden stir of unease at what he'd got himself into in the light of the
teenager's unexpected display of maturity. Turning away from the blond, Mika
shoved both hands into the fluorescent pink fake fur jacket she wore to clash
with her hair and began to walk away. "You'll find out," she said. "Come on."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

One look at the arriving
redhead's face told Ken all he needed to know about Ran's current state of
mind. Hurriedly gulping down the mouthful of rice, the athlete pushed his chair
back and fled the kitchen; leaving Omi watching the Weiss leader with much the
same look as a rabbit staring down approaching headlights. When there was no
immediate demand for his return, Ken sped up his pace until he reached the
sanctuary of the shop.

Back in the kitchen Omi
regarded the older man with extreme caution. "So you've heard then," the blond
commented. "I didn't think Birman was going to tell you herself."

Blinking at Omi's opening,
Ran slowly turned to the young assassin with a blank expression. "What was
Birman going to tell me?"

Omi opened his mouth and
then closed it again, obviously searching for an answer that wasn't going to
antagonise the other man. Ran bore the extending pause with an unchanging gaze.
Finally the youth ducked his head and focused intently on his bowl of rice.
"They've finished clearing out the hospital basements. They've found Manx –
unconscious but otherwise stable and also the central computer systems. Birman
called to say that Kritiker's OS will be back up and working in a matter of
hours."

Another slow blink as Ran
digested this information and concluded that what he had heard still did not
explain Omi's current state of nerves. "And?"

"And that's how long you
have to make sure that Yohji isn't anywhere they can find him. The first thing
they've been briefed to do is take him into custody … they didn't say where."

Ran nodded to himself. "So
we only have a few hours before they can monitor our computer usage again?
That's good. I need you to get online now."

It was Omi's turn to blink
as he gaped at the calm reaction of the redhead standing in front of him. "But
… aren't you going to say something about Yohji having to leave?"

A derisive snort answered
Omi. "There would be little point in that seeing as he's run away of his own
accord. But we still have time to find him." Ran glanced towards the stairway.
"If you can coax Ken out of whatever corner he's hiding in, tell him to get
ready for a mission."

"How?" Omi spluttered. "How
do you honestly think we're going to find him in the middle of Tokyo?"

An almost feline smirk
spread across the redhead's features. "Because I bugged him," he replied
simply.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Something was going on.
That much was pretty obvious from the amount of noise going on outside her
room, Aya reflected, but she still didn't have a clue what it could be about.
Glaring at the wooden door that blocked her view of the passageway, Aya cursed
her atrophied limbs yet again. Why did she have to spend so much time hanging
on for her absent brother's occasional visit when she could have met Sascha?
She could have woken up long ago and set about rebuilding her life, a life her
brother had seemed far too busy to worry much about. Tugging on the faint mental
link she had established with the orange-haired man who had finally saved her
from the boredom of her self-enclosed prison, Aya noticed with some concern
that something didn't seem quite right with the older man.

When the door to her room
finally opened to admit the redhead, there was nothing in his outward
expression to indicate any problems. Throwing a wink, he breezily sauntered
over to her bed and lowered himself onto on corner, crossing his legs and
leaning back on his elbows as he tipped his head to look at her. "Wie gehts
Schätzchen? You called?"

Aya watched the display
with a stony expression, not convinced in the slightest. "You're upset," she
said bluntly. "You're upset and you're hiding it. Why? What's wrong?"

The German shrugged and
let himself fall back against the mattress. "Nothing I didn't bring completely
on myself. I have a tendency to act a little impulsively and it always ends up
biting me in the arse. Still without it I'd have a much less interesting
moniker."

Aya thwapped the man with
one of her pillows. "Idiot. Don't ever let me catch you talking like that. You
keep putting yourself down, but you won't convince me. You got me out of that
hospital when even my brother gave up on me."

Sascha raised an arm to
try and fend off the attack. "Verdammt, you're vicious! That's some killer
instinct you've been hiding Schätzchen."

Aya abruptly broke off the
assault with a giggle. "Imagine what that says about your credibility, being
beaten up by an invalid teenager."

Sascha glanced at Aya and
rolled his eyes. "I never could resist the dark-haired ones." With a groan, the
German swung himself back into a sitting position and tossed his hair back over
a shoulder. "But anyway, what's up? I heard you calling."

Realising that she wasn't
going to get anything else out of the man on that particular subject, Aya
switched back to her original topic. "What's going on? It sounds really hectic
out there."

Another feigned groan as
the redhead nodded with theatrical sorrow. "Schätzchen, you have no idea. Your
room is a haven, trust me."

Aya made a threatening
pose with the pillow. "Don't play coy and answer the question. What's going
on?"

Sascha sighed and turned
his gaze up to the ceiling. "Some business has come up and the four of us have
to go out tonight. None of us want to leave you alone, but we have no choice.
It'll only be for a couple of hours."

Aya pulled a face. "And
you're leaving me in here with only a charred lump of plastic that used to be a
stereo for my amusement? What kind of sadists are you?"

Sascha grinned. "Why don't
I bring the TV in here for you? It'll be worth it just to watch the expression
on Crawford's face when he sees it's gone."

Aya smiled back. "Let me
guess; everything has to be in its exact place and nowhere else? He really is
just like Ran."

Sascha rose to his feet,
turning his face momentarily away from the girl as he moved towards the door.
"So it sounds as if you're already well versed in ways to wind the guy up. I
shall leave it in your capable hands." He threw a final wink and a smile over
his shoulder as he opened the door. "The television's right on its way, Süsse."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He hadn't really thought
about what he'd been expecting for the Big Badass Headquarters. Lots of
futuristic computers perhaps, all Imperial Stormtrooper like with that wizened
old guy sat in some big Sith Lord throne. Or maybe just a whole lot of cobwebs
and chains, illuminated by flickering candlelight and generally creating spooky
shadows in which the rest of the little bunch lurked. The empty warehouse was a
definite disappointment, Yohji reflected, though until now he'd never really
considered himself a drama queen.

Striding along the vast
expanse of concrete flooring with Mika a few steps in front, Yohji silently
followed the girl up a flight of stairs and into the overseer's office. And
sitting behind a mundane desk in a bog-standard swivel chair was the old guy
who'd been caused so much irritation lately, looking for all the world like
some middle-manager. To one side stood the two younger men, but there was no
sign of the final woman who had appeared in his dreams. Mika obviously noticed
Yohji's faint frown and hurriedly spoke up. "Verdandi can't be with us in
person, but she can occasionally join us through the medium of dreams."

Yohji nodded. "Gotta be
cheaper than conference calling, I guess."

The seated man cleared his
throat as he rose to his feet. "Welcome Yue. I believe you have already met Pan
and Legion, but allow me to introduce myself. I am Odin."

Yohji nodded slightly,
pointedly ignoring the outstretched hand. "Don't call me that. The name's
Yohji. Now let's get this mess sorted up so we can all be on our merry little
ways. You guys keep screwing with me and I want you to stop it. I want you to
leave me and those close to me alone. There's nothing that I know or have that
could be of any interest to you."

Behind Odin, Legion shook
his head and put his face in his hands while his companion winced. Odin however
simply smiled and let his hand drop back to his side. "Self-deception is an
amazing thing, is it not?" he commented lightly. "Even in the light of
overwhelming evidence to the contrary, we can still believe that we are
completely normal. That nothing is wrong for as long as we pretend. But even
the blindest of us must open our eyes at some point. Can you really say that
you have no idea why we could possibly be interested in you?"

Yohji opened his mouth to
fire off some offensive reply, when something made him pause. Memories of the
abortive kidnap attempt surfaced in his mind. The ease of escape until he'd
found Ran's beaten form and had lost all control of himself. Yohji's gaze
drifted back to Odin, who was watching the blond with an unpleasant smile.

"Rather easy escape,
wasn't it?" Odin supplied, echoing the other man's thoughts. "And yet it wasn't
through untrained or incompetent guards. No … rather events just seemed to come
together in a useful series of coincidences. I suppose it could be put down to
a fluke of timing. But that hasn't been the only time. Everything seems to just
happen in your favour, doesn't it? You're just always in the right place at the
right time."

Yohji frowned and shrugged
his shoulders, trying to dismiss the uneasy feeling inside. "It's not like I
had anything to do with that."

Odin smiled faintly before
stepping around the desk to face Yohji directly. He crossed his arms and leaned
back against the wooden edge. "Really? Then let's look at your escape from Schwarz
in the first place. You spare the life of a man who has the power to destroy
the mental blocks inside your head and then can't even dodge when he uses the
last of his strength to attack you. A slight lapse in judgement or simply
another set of events working in your favour?"

Yohji snorted in
exasperation. "Anything else you're planning to blame on me? Did they not have
any valium left at the pharmacists for you? Got to be a conspiracy that I'm at
the centre of. Or how about Beckham leaving United for Real Madrid? My
fingerprints must be all over the contract."

Odin looked at the blond
sourly for a moment or two. "Let's try another line of reasoning then. Answer
me this; if the Delphic Unit can see into the future and influence the fate of
individuals, why can they never see you in their visions? Why is your course of
action impossible for them to plot?"

"I'm impulsive?"

"If that were all then at
least the consequences of your actions would be seen. But you seem to exist by
using that random factor or outside chance that exists in any situation. The
kind of thing that is impossible to predict because there is no logic or reason
behind it. Simply a freak occurrence. You exist outside any webs they may try
and weave and because of that you alone have the power to destroy everything
they are working for. If they cannot predict your movements, then they cannot
protect themselves from you."

"Arachne knew it all
along," Legion suddenly interrupted. "It's in your fucking name. Her and her
sick sense of humour."

Yohji frowned. "My name?"

"After your mind was
tampered with, they needed something to call you by. The Elders settled on Void
based on the words of Arachne. But what she originally said wasn't in English,
but German." Pan took up the story smoothly, without a glance at the man beside
him who had once again fallen into withdrawn silence. "Yues Tod hinterliess
eine schmerzliche Lücke. Rosenkreuz took it as a reference to the absence of
any visible personality, but it wasn't that at all. It was a play on words, a
really bad bi-lingual pun. Lücke … luck. All that was left behind was a painful
luck."

Yohji shook his head
slowly in disbelief. "You guys really need to get some sort of social lives.
This sort of stuff just isn't healthy."

"Are you listening at
all?" Odin demanded. "Don't you see your value to us? You have the gift of
Luck, Coincidence … call it what you will. You can influence random chances to
occur in a manner that will be the most benefit to you. If there is only a one
in a million chance of something occurring, your gift will ensure the
probability that it happens to you. With training you can control just what you
influence, and to what degree. This is why you cannot return to Esset. You will
be our means of destroying that organisation once and for all."

"Think about it for a
moment, Yue," Mika said. "When has something you really wanted not worked out
the way you wished it would? Since you awoke in that hospital bed name me one
thing that has not gone well for you."

Yohji glared at the girl.
"I had to leave everything and come here. But if what you're telling me is true
then I have no need to stay. I can simply walk out of here and you won't be
able to harm me or Ran despite your threats."

Odin smiled and raised an
eyebrow. "Ran? You mean your ardent admirer? Think back and tell me if you can
promise with a totally clear conscience that you weren't manipulating that man
into feeling for you from the very beginning. If the events that brought you
together were anything other than yet another manifestation of your power." The
Englishman paused and at Yohji's stunned silence smiled again. "Food for
thought, isn't it? And let's go one step further, weren't you indirectly
responsible for the death of his sister … the one person who could divide his
loyalty away from you? Do you see how it all ties together? You don't belong
with him and even if you were to return, he wouldn't accept you. You'll do
nothing more than keep him a virtual prisoner, but of course he won't be able
to realise that. Isn't love a noble thing?"

Yohji swallowed against
the sudden sick feeling rising up through his body. "You're wrong," he
objected.

"Am I?" Odin goaded. He
paused for another moment and then turned to walk back to chair. "Well, you're here
and you'll be staying for now. Anything you wish to ask that does not involve
me and my colleagues dying in a variety of painful manners?"

Yohji thought for a
moment. "Yeah. What sort of party pieces do you guys have if you're still not
powerful enough to get things done without me?"

"I'll field this
question," Pan offered calmly. "As you no doubt guessed, it's not that we lack
abilities, but rather that even our combined gifts are still not enough to
counter the somewhat omnipotent Delphic Unit. I myself am a breed of telepath.
But I don't directly read the thoughts of others, but obscure them. Consider it
a blocking effect combined with a strong sense of confusion in those of
stronger ability.

"My colleague Legion is also originally a telepath, but an
unfortunate incident warped his power somewhat. He now channels the dead, but
is unable to turn this ability off hence his occasional lapse into total
madness. Also he doesn't like to touch other people, or go underground for long
periods of time.

"And Mika is possessed of
a rather interesting ability to distort time within a given field. As long as
she has a medium on which to concentrate – she prefers sand for this, but any
sort of pouring solid will do – she can speed up or slow down time."

Yohji nodded then jerked
his head towards the seated Englishman. "What about him?"

Odin smiled. "Currently
irrelevant, but I believe you will discover it in good time." He opened his
mouth to add something, but stopped when a gunshot rang out nearby. The man frowned.
"They're early." Odin rose to his feet and glanced over at Yohji. "You will
stay in this office while we deal with the intruders outside. Should you not be
waiting here on our return, I will personally disembowel that redhead of yours.
Am I clear?"

Narrowing his eyes, Yohji
nodded reluctantly. He watched as the four others silently filed out of the
room before sitting on Odin's desk and pulling the gun from its resting place.
He studied the weapon while his mind raced through everything he'd been told.
The whole thing seemed ridiculous, but perhaps he shouldn't question such an
advantage.

Yohji ran his fingers
lightly over the barrel of the gun. If Odin was right about Yohji, it was high
time to start seducing Lady Luck. A humourless grin twisted at the corner of
the blond's mouth. Good thing he'd always been such a hit with the ladies.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"You put a tracer onto one
of the buttons on his shirt? How the hell didn't he notice you doing that?" Ken
asked, incredulity writ large on his features.

Ran threw the man a
carefully controlled look. "He was distracted at the time." Not offering any
further explanation, the redhead turned his attention back to Omi. "Has he
moved?"

Checking with a small
display that the blond stuffed back into a pocket, Omi offered a bright smile.
"Still in the same warehouse. We're practically there." He gestured with a hand
to a nearby building. "It's that one there."

Ken didn't look quite so
thrilled at the sight of their goal. "You mean the one currently being approached
by the four guys dressed in white? Are we going to need invites to this thing
or something?"

Ran cursed under his
breath and unsheathed his sword. "Be on your guard. Don't attempt to take them
on directly, just cause enough of a distraction to stop them entering the place
before I've got Yohji out of there."

Ken winced. "I hate it
when things sound that simple. It always seems to be tempting fate to fuck us
over."

Omi gave the older
assassin a sour look. "Thanks for the pep talk, Ken."

Ken had the decency to
look abashed and busied himself with checking his weapon as Ran broke away from
the side of the building to head towards the warehouse. Omi watched the redhead
go, before readying a selection of darts. "Come on Ken. And try not to do
anything stupid."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Slipping into the
warehouse unnoticed by Schwarz had been effortless. The quartet seemed to be
more interested with simply observing the building. Ran soon guessed why when
he noticed the welcoming committee he had amassed.

"Ah Ran, we've been
expecting you," a distinguished older man with a discernable English accent
greeted the redhead's arrival while the three other figures looked on silently.
"I assume you're here to play the white knight in shining armour once more? Here
to rescue Kudoh from the nefarious clutches of his past and prevent him from
once more becoming tainted." The man paused and smiled. "Because that's what's
really important to you, isn't it? Kudoh is your proof that there is a chance
at redemption, a chance to leave a past saturated with the blood of the
countless mass you slaughter under the pretence of righteousness. If someone
like Void, who had fallen so far and left all traces of his humanity behind
him, could break free from that past and live a normal life as just another
normal person then surely you could also. If you could protect Kudoh from
becoming Void once more then surely you could also retain some small part of
who you were, the Ran who knew nothing of murder; of sins justified by cold hard
cash. After all, you no doubt reasoned to yourself, Void was far worse than you
could ever be."

Ran blinked, unable to
find the words to respond. He as vaguely aware of lowering his guard and
allowing the sword to come to rest uselessly at his side, but he couldn't focus
on anything but the words that were being fired at him in an attack far cleaner
than any he could have inflicted. A part of his mind was loudly protesting
every venomous word that dripped from the older man's mouth, but another part of
Ran, the self-destructive part, refused to do anything but keep listening.
Almost anticipating every word before it came as if they were nothing more than
the words he had accused himself of in some of his darkest moods.

"But that, my dear Ran, is
where you're wrong. Void was simply that: a void. An empty shell remotely
controlled by others. You are fully aware of each and every person you murder
and yet you still do it. You have no claim on him, no right to project these
futile hopes of escaping what you've become onto Kudoh. In any case, he's ours
now. He was ours from the moment you destroyed the blocks. And this time, he'll
be fully aware of each and every life he takes, all thanks to you and your
meddling. Does that thought make you feel good? Or is it yet another burden
you're going to add to your conscience? Either way, don't let it trouble you,
my dear boy. You won't be alive to fully appreciate what you've done anyway."

He was barely aware of
Odin bring his pistol to bear on his face. His eyes relayed the information to
his brain, but he was unable to form any further processes. Foremost in his
thoughts was Yohji. Was this current situation really his fault? It sounded so
ridiculous, but then again …

The sound of a shot
brought Ran blinking back to his senses. Odin's gun lay unfired on the floor
while the man cradled his hand and glared over his shoulder in the direction of
the stairs. Following the other man's gaze, Ran saw Yohji standing at the top,
a gun held expertly in his hands. "Lass ihn! Er hat nichts damit zu tun." Yohji
clicked another bullet into the chamber and readied the trigger. "Nächstes Mal
vermisse ich nicht."

Odin raised his hands and
slowly stepped to one side, throwing a satisfied smile in the direction of Ran,
who watched in shock as Yohji hurriedly descended the stairs to where the
redhead stood. "Ran, alles in Ordnung? Bist du verletzt? Was? Was ist los?"

Shaking his head as he
stepped away from the concerned looking blond, Ran tried to get his brain to
focus again. "Yohji. I can't understand you. What are you saying?"

Yohji blinked in
puzzlement. "Can't understand me? I only asked if you were injured. You're
looking at me as if I've grown another head or something."

"You … you weren't
speaking in Japanese. I didn't know what you were saying," Ran explained even
as he moved away from Yohji again, unable to cope with being so close to the
other man and not throwing himself into his arms.

"You've been speaking in German
since you arrived here," Pan commented from his observation point in the
corner. "I'm surprised you weren't aware of it."

Ran's earpiece suddenly
crackled into life, making him jump. "Abyssinian, get your arse out here! We
need back-up right now or things are going to get very messy."

Ran cursed under his
breath before replying, perversely grateful for the chance to focus on
something other than the situation he currently found him. "You were merely
supposed to keep them distracted Siberian."

"Yeah, well try telling
them that!"

"Understood, I'm on my
way." Looking past Yohji to where the Englishman stood, Ran was disturbed to
notice a smile on the man's face again.

"Leaving so soon, Ran?
Don't let us keep you. You have a very important meeting to attend after all."

Noting the confusion on
Yohji's face, Pan offered an explanation. "Schwarz have shown up to try and get
their hands on you. You're housemates are currently outside trying not to get
killed."

"What?" Yohji spluttered.
"Why can't everybody just leave me alone?"

"You mean other than him?"
Pan enquired with a nod towards the disappearing redhead.

Yohji swore and took after
the man. "Damn it Ran, you're enough to drive anyone mad!"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Schuldig wasn't sure quite
what he felt when he saw the redhead appear, sword in hand and heading straight
for Crawford. When Yue emerged behind him only a few moments later he realised
it was resignation. Tinged with a hint of relief. Raising his gun he turned his
thoughts towards the blond.

~Strange how events have a habit of repeating themselves,
old friend, isn't it?~

Yue turned to face the
German, his brow slightly creased in puzzlement. Realising the green-eyed man
was one of the group attacking his friends he brought his gun to face the redhead.
"Did you say something?"

~Thought it. The advantages of telepathy. It allows you
and I to have a little private chat while the others scrap it out.~

Yue opened his mouth then
closed it and frowned in concentration. ~What could you and I possibly have
to talk about?~

~It's been quite a while since we were last able to
converse with one another like this. I'm simply making the most of the
opportunity. Wouldn't want to wait another eleven years, would we?~

The blond didn't look
impressed, his thoughts tinged with annoyance. ~Oh yeah, and who's fault
is that? From what I've heard this is all your mess in the first place.~

Schuldig allowed a small
incline of his head. The fight continued around the pair, no one paying the
slightest attention to the two men who stood staring at one another with barely
the smallest movements. ~True enough. But then you'd have never got your
hands on that little bodyguard of yours. I think I deserve a little gratitude
for that.~

~I think you need to fuck off back to whatever hole you
crawled out of.~

~Do you recall your words in that bar, Yue? As I sat
beside you confessing my worst sins, my deepest betrayal? You said that my
friend would have forgiven me. Do you still feel the same now you know just how
unworthy of forgiveness I am?~

Almost unconsciously,
Yohji stepped briefly to the side, avoiding the brawling Farfarello and Ken as
they dashed past. His gaze never left the German's and his grip on the gun
never faltered. ~Do you want me to feel sorry for you? To tut sympathetically
over how much you've suffered? Give me a break. You brought this on yourself.
You have no one to blame but yourself.~

The German's gaze
glittered like hardened glass as his expression twisted. ~Oh I know
that. This was my choice, my mistake. All because I believed the words of
someone I thought cared for me. I chose to live rather than die with my
friends. And I've paid for the cost of my survival. I am the guilty party. But
now we find ourselves back in a similar situation and I have to ask myself if
fate isn't trying to tell me something?~

~Enlighten me.~

~I'm talking about atonement. A sin is committed. The
sinner is condemned. Then the sin is erased. It ceases to exist and the
evidence that it was committed is removed. Is the sinner therefore still
guilty? Only as long as the memory of the sin remains. He is the last witness,
the final piece of evidence. I can't forget what I did and so as long as I
remain, I am guilty.~ The German smiled faintly
and threw away his gun. ~I'm tired of being guilty Yue. I want to be
Sascha again.~

The shot rang out, somehow
causing the other participants of the struggle to stop as all eyes turned to
the falling figure of the telepath, orange hair streaming through the air as he
gracefully tumbled backwards. Then the spreading crimson liquid dulled the
vivid colour as Schuldig lay motionless on the ground.

Almost out of nowhere,
people began to appear from all sides, dressed in the black uniforms of Esset.
Ken was the first to notice them. "Shit, we can't deal with this number of
enemies. We have to get out of here now."

As if Ken's words were
merely the prompt required, Schwarz and Weiss split in all directions, as Esset
continued to converge around the telepath's prone body.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Stumbling along as he
helped support the heavily limping Ken, Omi looked towards the silent redhead
with a troubled expression. "Who were those guys? I've never fought people like
that before."

"Freaks," Ken spat.
"That's what they are. A bunch of fucking freaks." He winced as Omi adjusted
his grip and regarded his mangled thigh in disbelief. "I slit that guy's chest
open and he didn't even notice. Not even adrenaline can block out that kind of
pain."

Omi glanced at the display
and then back at Ran once more. "According to this Yohji's standing still
around the next corner. He might be injured or resting as he hasn't moved in
some time."

"Injured," Ken snorted,
mainly to himself. "The guy fires one shot after just standing there for an age
taking in the sights. He could walk through a minefield without getting
injured. Hey, Ran, where you going?"

Ignoring the calls from
behind him, Ran unconsciously broke into a run as he turned the corner and came
to a sudden halt. He hadn't had any real idea of what he was going to say to
Yohji, Ran reflected. He'd just planned on opening his mouth and saying the
first thing that came out.

Instead he stood silently,
listening to Ken and Omi's approach before slowly leaning down and picking up
the discarded shirt button from where it had been thrown. Turning it over
carefully, he saw the metal glint of the tracing device he had placed there
earlier. Ran folded his fingers around the object and spun to face the two
other assassins. "We should head back to the Koneko. It won't take Birman long
to show up once Kritiker's OS is running again."

Omi blinked. "But what
about Yo-"

Ken quickly elbowed the
blond, cutting him off before he could finish the question. "Leave it Omi," Ken
hissed, noting the expression in Ran's eyes. "Let's just worry about getting
back."

Ran nodded once and strode
past the pair, taking the lead again. His clenched hands tightened and then
loosened, letting the button fall to bounce once more on the concrete paving.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The three men stood watching
as the plane was filled with its cargo.

"A job well done," Melmoth
commented as he watched the comatose redhead be stored safely on board. "Once
he reaches Munich we can transfer him directly to the ward at Rosenkreuz until
he regains consciousness."

"Perfect bait for Void,"
Gil-Martin agreed. "Now that his power has awakened, it can only be a matter of
time before he starts to seek out those who can help him control it. What about
Schwarz in the meantime?"

Melmoth looked over to the
small group who stood, or in the case of one member sat in a wheelchair, and
observed the events. "Schwarz should develop nicely," he remarked. "This event
has rid them of a very troublesome element."

"And we foresee no
problems with the replacement," Janus added. "The girl is developing at a
remarkable rate under Crawford's watchful eye."

"There's a strong desire
for vengeance in her," Gil-Martin noted. "We can use that. She has no loyalty
to anyone other than Schwarz. Not even her surviving brother. Thanks to Crawford's
influence, she even holds him responsible."

The Elders fell silent,
observing the events around them like the proverbial spiders at the centre of
the web.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Aya blinked back tears and
willed her face not to betray any emotion as she watched Sascha be carried
away. A warm hand gently clasped her shoulder and she squinted up against the
sunlight to see Crawford standing beside her, an identical expression on his
face to the one she wore. "This isn't over yet," the American assured her in a
voice that held no room for disagreement. "We're going to get him back."

Nodding, Aya dropped her
head back to watch the aircraft and bit her lip. "And we're going to make them
pay for taking him away from us," he added. Crawford's hand tightened in an
affirmative squeeze before moving back to the pre-cog's side. They continued to
watch in silence for a few more moments before Aya spoke up again. "I have a
name now."

"Oh?"

Aya squinted her eyes
again. "Leid. I want to be called Leid."

There was a pause, then
Crawford's hand brushed against her hair. "Very well."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Odin regarded the people
sat before him with satisfaction. "A job well done," he said. "Not only have we
achieved what we came here for, but Schuldig will soon be in a suitable state
in which to attempt to induct him into Hunt."

Mika looked less than
impressed from her position between Pan and Yohji. "He's in a coma. Was that
really necessary?"

"He's away from Schwarz
and Crawford, so yes. I would say it was."

Mika's face darkened, but
a restraining hand on her shoulder from Pan prevented her from voicing any
dissent. With a curt nod at the group, Odin rose to his feet. "We leave for
Europe in a few hours. I suggest you ensure you are all ready to travel."

With Odin gone, Yohji was
the next to leave the room as he silently stood and headed out the door. Mika
watched him go with an unhappy expression before turning to Pan. "Why'd you
stop me?" she demanded. "Odin's gone too far, someone has to tell him that his
plans are nuts."

"Odin is not the type you
make your objections known to, petite," Pan answered. "He wouldn't listen to
you."

"But Odin's not the only
one who can lay a trap, lassie," Legion added as he moved over to join them.
"As long as you've got a wee bit more patience than that pompous airbag, you've
got the upper hand."